1392 



POLYGONATrJI 



UD. Fih 



<'*?, itmoothy no 



giganttum, l)i>lr. T:iller niul more robust than P. 

 biflonim. 1-S ft. liiKh: Ivs. !',.-(; in. long, 3-t in. wide: 

 fls. 1-8 in tlie iixils. May-.July. Moist woods, Rhode 

 Island to Manitoba, soutli Ga., La., to New Mex. and 

 Utah. 



CO. riant with lis. pubescent heneath. 

 bifldnun, Ell. Height 8 in.-3 ft.: Ivs. 2-4 in. long, 

 V.-'l in. wide: fls. often 2 in axils, sometimes 1-4. 

 A'priWuly. Woods, New Brunswick to Mich., south to 

 Fla. Mn. 8:49. W. M. 



POLYGONfiLLA (diminutive of Polygonum). Poly- 

 About 7 species of American plants closely 

 allied to Polygonum and of no horticultural 

 standing. P. purri folia was offered by Gil- 

 lett in 1881, but it is probably not hardy 

 north. The genus differs from Polygonum 

 in having only the inner sepals erect and 

 the calyx enlarged in fruit, while in Poly- 

 gonum all the sepals are erect and the calyx 

 is not enlarged in fruit. 



parvifdlia, Michx. Diffuse shrub: 

 Ivs. wedge-shaped, vertical, those 

 on sterile shoots imbricated: ra- 

 cemes '..-1 in. long, very numerous, 

 in an oblong or corymbose panicle : 

 fls. white, yellowish or rose color; 

 filaments all alike; stigmas nearly 

 sessile. Aug., Sept. Dry sandy 

 soil, Fla. to N. C. 



1877. Common Doorweed or Knotweed. the details enlarged 

 — Polygonum aviculare. 



POL'?GONUM (Greek for many-jointed). Polygo- 

 ni'tcece, .Iointweed. Knotweed. Mostly herbs, ann 



■ flovyers in racemes, spikes oi 



\-. I'lnwrr^ npetalous; calyj 

 •■.■■., "i II. sometimes ex 

 :, : I ■. .1 style or stigra: 



II, i.. :i ,1 i.Mit;ular or 



;^OLYGONrM 



afflne, 9. cuspidatum, 11. Persicaria, 4 



ampbibium, 6. elet/ans. 5. pumilum. 3. 



amplexioiiule, 10. Hartwrightii, 7. Sachalinense, 12. 



areuarium, 5. liinieerum, 8. Sieboldi, U. 

 Baldschuanicum, 2. iiiuUiUorum, 10 and tiieci^sum, 10. 



Bmnonis, 9. s\ii)pl. list. yariegatum, i. 



cilinode, 1. orientale, '.^. Zuccarinii, 11. 



compactum, 11. oxyphyllum, 10. 



A. Plant twining. 



1. cilindde, Micbx. Slender somewhat downy climber, 

 mostly perennial: Ivs. cordate-ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 

 more or less angular or halberd-shaped at base: stem 

 bearing a ring of retrorse bristles at the base of each 

 sheath (whence the specific name): fls. white, in loose- 

 panicled racemes from the upper axils. Nova Scotia 

 south and west. -Sold as a cover plant for rocks and as 

 a denizen of shrub-masses. 



2. Baldsohuinicum, Kegel. Tall perennial climber be- 

 coming woody at the base: Ivs. cordate-oval or hastate, 

 acuminate, slender-petioled: fls. small but very numer- 

 ous in terminal erect ordrooping panicles, rose-colored: 

 fruiting calyx small, 3-sided, at first whitish and then 

 becoming rose-colored: akene shining black. Bokhara. 

 G.C. III. 16:656; 21:17. Gn. 55, p. 454. Gng. 5: 181. B.M. 

 7544. — Offered by one American dealer and listed in 

 the American catalogues of European dealers. De- 

 scribed as a very vigorous and decorative hardy plant, 

 climbing 20 ft. high. It was first described by Kegel 

 in 1884. 



AA. Plant erect, or at least not climbing. 

 B. Annual plants of erect habit, to be treated as flower- 

 garden sttbjects. 



3. orient&le, Linn. Prince's Feather. Kiss-me- 

 ovER-THE-GARDEN-GATE. Fig. 1878. Tall-growing, Hiuch 

 branched above, hairy : Ivs. large, ovate or cordate- 

 ovate or broad-oblong, acuminate: sheaths short, cili- 

 ate and sometimes bordered at the summit: tts. bright 

 pink, in close, cylindrical spikes that are arranged in 

 open panicles, tlie stamens 7 and the akene lenticular. 

 India. B.M. 213. -An attractive old-fashioned plant 

 growing as high as the fence. It is most easy of culti- 

 vation. In fact, it usually self 

 some places it has run wild. 



or perennial, witti sr 

 heads (sometimes S" 

 gamosepalous, 4-5-ii:i 

 serted: ovary l-locul. 

 (latter capitate), rip 

 lenticular akene. AL 

 prominently sheathe 



Lho 



clo 



. Polyguuu! 



docks, and also to Fago 

 pyrum, the buckwheats. Rumex differs in uni 

 formly having a 0-parted calyx, some of th 

 lobes often bearing a grain-like tubercle on the 

 back, the stigmas tufted. Fagopyrum differs in having 

 an akene surpassing the calyx and in details of the 

 embryo. Most Polygonums are weedy plants, and only 

 a. very small proportion are of merit for cultivation. 

 One of the commonest species is the Doorweed (Fig. 

 1877), Poliiqonwm aviculare. It is a decumbent wiry 

 small-leaved aiinUcil or perennial, growing along walk" 

 and in other Inr.i. ,lrv-"il, v.-li.-ro it „.i.kp-i n, sod '"- 



mat. TheaMl'M- ,l ., .i-.- ^.,.-,11, :inil seldom 



seen by otli. 

 the common 

 For monogr: 

 14 f ■ 



Small, "Monograph of the North American species of 

 the genus Polygonum," in Mem. Dept. Bot. Columbia 

 (College, 1895. The species are perhaps 200, of very 

 wide distribution from arctic to tropical count 

 Most of the cultivated Polygonums are bar 

 plants, requiring no special skill or care. They 

 agated by seed and division, 

 of the cultivated kinds are an 

 this species is the only one tli 

 flower-garden plant in this 

 species are amphibious and 

 gardens. 



chiefly the 

 niial, as /'. i 



1878. Polyeonum orientale 



